Scandal

by Patsy Brookshire

  He grasped my fingers, holding me to the bent-across-the-bed position. "Hey! It's okay."

  He had to know I was nervous, skittish that he would take advantage of where we were, while hoping that he would.

  But, this was our bed, mine and Roger's.

  I could see the desire in Dan's eyes, and feel it in myself. He released my hands. We stood straight on either side of the bed with the quilt between us, looking at each other. I hoped he couldn't see the flush I could feel warming my face.

  "It's just..."

  "This is your marriage bed."

  I made another swipe at the quilt. "Yes."

  "I have an idea." He came round the end of the bed to stand by me. "You say you will finish the quilt tonight, doing the what-do-you-call it?"

  "Binding."

  He put his arms around me and kissed me, a long deep kiss that took my breath. We pressed together. He ran his hands across my back, pulling me even closer. "You need a new bed. I need for you to have a new bed. You could donate this one to one of the charities. If you want." He was being very careful.

  We both took deep breaths and stepped apart. I started folding the quilt. He went to the other side. We did it together.

  He handed it to me, and I held it close to my chest. "Sounds good to me. This bed has a lotta miles on it and I'm ready for a new one.

  "I'm gonna be spending the day with this. Get it finished. Tomorrow, I'll go shopping."

  He started to speak.

  "By myself.

  "I'll let you know when I'm done...with the bed, and the quilt, too. You can come see."

  He started to speak as we left my bedroom.

  I ran over the top of his words, "It'll be a surprise."

  As soon as he left I sat myself down in my sewing chair, and called Magda.

  "Hello, Annie!"

  "Magda. I'm in the home stretch."

  "Wonderful. See, I knew you could do it."

  "Not without you, and Lena, I couldn't have."

  "Will you finish the binding with hand sewing? Or machine sewing?"

  "By hand, of course. Only way I know to hide the seams out of sight. Mostly."

  "Good. Of course whatever you do is your business, but I prefer the hand work for finishing, myself.

  "Have you picked up the entry forms for the show?"

  "No. Haven't even thought of it."

  "No problem. I can get them in the mail this next week. Be sure to send them back as soon as possible. Lena and I have your back but it's good to get it entered on time. We have to figure space and placement, you know."

  "What do you hear from Sam?"

  "Oh, that Sammy." Her voice softened, dropped the business tone, became more dreamy. "I'm going down this week to pick him up. We've been back and forth since you were here. I went down and we stayed in Sophie's Cabins for a few days. That sweetie, he served me honeydew melon and toast for breakfast, I made us lunch, and we ate out nearly every night."

  "How long were you there?"

  "Not long. A week. I got a quilt made for our bed. Left it there for other people. Just a simple squares thing. Black and white. Teri wants me to make more, so when I have the show over, I'll play with that. Good to have work, and the beach is an inspiring place."

  "Will the Willamina quilter have her beach quilt in the show?"

  "Oh, yes. That's why you were interested in us in the first place. Judy will be showing it, for sure." We left it at that, as I wasn't sure how long "Sammy" would be staying at Magda's.

  I told Magda about deciding to buy a new mattress, giving her the little bit of lowdown on Dan that I was ready to share. I knew she'd tell Sam. She could bridge my information to the family, and I could avoid a direct inquisition.

  As for naming the quilt, I was having an idea but it wasn't firmed down yet. I needed to talk more with Sam. After all, it was his mother's quilt.

  Had been.

  Chapter 39

  A New Bed

  I took some days saying goodbye to my old bed, moving furniture around, putting up new curtains. Then I went shopping. I bought a new mattress and, in the same store, an oak bed frame with a wide, flat, headboard.

  It cost a pretty penny but was worth it. Deeper than my old one which meant new sheets of good cotton, black and white stripes. Four pillowcases to match. New pillows. I squashed and fluffed every pillow, inhaled the fresh smell of my new linens. A thick, fluffy new comforter of a snazzy black and white check. Liberation linens.

  The store delivered the new, and took away the old. Dan was there to help me. We put together the frame, put on the mattress, and helped each other make the bed. On my side I tucked with hospital corners. On his side he did military corners. We snapped the blankets on quick. Time to embrace the new.

  That we did with gusto. We finished the bed making, and then, as if we'd been waiting all our lives to make love to each other, proceeded to tear it up.

  We kicked off our shoes. The touch of his hands set me on fire. I pulled off his shirt, then his pants, while he stripped off my blouse and jeans. In our unders we tumbled onto the bed.

  Dan played his fingers over the tiny goosebumps on the tops of my breasts. "We must warm you up." He stroked the chilly bumps with his tongue. He rolled me onto my belly, unhooked the closures on my bra, dropped it to the floor. He rolled me over again, exposing my breasts to his touch.

  His urgency inflamed me as his hands explored the swell of my breasts, my belly, reached to play with the elastic of my panties. Everywhere he touched, my body lifted to his palms, his fingers. He kissed where he touched, his tongue moving smoothly over my nipples. I grabbed him by the ribs, feeling his muscles ripple as I stroked.

  He moved slow and gentle while desire built within me. I tugged at his shorts. He lifted his hips to help me, took a few seconds to fit himself with a condom, then pulled off my panties. We waited no longer.

  With him inside me I wanted to move, but now he stopped and raised himself on his elbows to look into my eyes, then as I whispered, urgently, "Dan," he began to shift until we were equally lost in sensation and finally, mutual explosion.

  I lay warm and naked beside him, feeling my body zinging with peace. Cooling, I reached to lift the blanket. He pulled up his side. We tucked up under the covers, arms entwined, looking with wonder at each other.

  "Well, hello, Miss Annie," he whispered. "So nice to know you."

  "Mmm." I had no strength for talking. I traced the planes of his face, his lips, over his eyelids to close his eyes. With satisfied sighs his breathing slowed, and he slept. I watched him for a few minutes, pulled gently at his hair, kissed his quiet lips, ran my hand over the length of his body down to the round of his butt.

  Prince Charming found his way onto the bed, walked over us, did a bit of purr-purr and pat-pat at my shoulder. Moving to the curve of my back, he tucked in close, settled down.

  Cozy, I fell into my own deep sleep.

  When we woke, moving and shifting again, Prince jumped off the bed. Dan laughed.

  Feeling my inner thermostat rise again, I said, "My turn, Danny boy."

  He smiled. "Oh, you must have your way. I won't even try to stop you."

  I began a gentle massage of his back, shutting my eyes while I traced the lines of muscle in his shoulder, upper back, down through his legs. He was every bit as tasty as I'd thought he'd be, a lovely, strong body.

  Sated once more, we slept.

  When we woke we were both were full of energy, needing to move, to walk, to drive somewhere, together. "The beach!" he said. "You've told me about Sophie's Cabins, I want to sleep with you there, with the sounds of the ocean close, and you in my arms."

  I called ahead. There was one cabin open.

  "It's yours," Teri said. "Bring your coat with a hood. We've got a stiff breeze blowing. It's still got a little warmth in it, but not much. Might even spit rain.

  "I'll make sure Sam's got some wood there for the fire. You might want to stop in town and pick up dinner before you
come. There's a good chips place in town.

  "We're busy tonight with the football game. The weather's iffy but you know, that won't stop 'em. Connor's starting, first time in a game. Frankly, I don't know who's more excited, Dave or Connor. Maybe you can stop in before you leave tomorrow?"

  I was glad they'd all be busy. We weren't planning to socialize.

  We showered together, nearly sidetracking our trip, but I stayed on task. I packed in minutes, filled Prince's water and food bowls, promised him we'd be back by tomorrow night. We stopped by Dan's mother's house by the river. While he changed clothes and stuffed an overnight bag with clean underwear and toilet articles, his mother and I sat in her living room, drinking hot tea.

  By now I'd met her several times and liked her forthright and accepting manner. Her hair was dyed a soft red, her eyes were a lighter brown than his, carrying now a knowing look as she watched him rush around. At seventy-two she was retired but, from her son's reports, busier than ever with volunteering at the library and the animal shelter.

  She switched to the subject of Dan. "I expect he'll be even busier now, and Lord knows, he's always on the go. I'm glad you two are taking some time to play at the beach." I finished my tea and we left.

  Teri was right about the weather, and then some. By the time we got there the wind was whipping around the cabin. Sam had left the key under the mat, so we didn't even have to talk to anybody.

  I set the food we'd picked up in town on the table by the picture window that faced the ocean, searched the drawers and cupboards for table settings and glasses, while Dan worked at the wood stove. He soon had a fire going to take away the room's damp. We weren't feeling the cold much anyway, carrying our own heat as we were. It could've been an igloo and us naked and we wouldn't have been bothered by the chill.

  By the time we sat to eat, it was sunset, with no sun to be seen but enough daylight to make a lovely black and white silhouette of Haystack Rock looming in the shadows of swirling sand and fog. Rain had replaced the fog, making a cocoon of our cabin.

  Dan doused his fish and chips liberally with vinegar. "I learned to eat it this way in England," he said. "Now it's not authentic without the bite of malt vinegar. I like to salt it first, then the vinegar, then the lemon over all."

  With my permission, he splashed vinegar on my food. I liked the zest.

  "I think it's a law that if you're going to eat authentic English fish and chips you must have hot tea."

  "But the English do it with milk. Not for me. Milk is for babies, and that we certainly ain't." He pointed his vinegary fry at me.

  I snapped it from his hands, ate it.

  I barely had time to clean up dinner before we jumped into bed and continued our education. Dan got up once to feed the fire. When he came back to bed his bare legs brushed mine, once again inflaming my need. I had never felt like this before. Pure lust that at one moment had me gasping, the next wanting to dominate him, and then to submit. We went from deep sleep to hyper awake, and passion spent, back to deep sleep.

  In the morning I was awakened by knocking. I fumbled into my robe and went to the door.

  Sam stood there with two cups of hot coffee on a tray. "When you're awake, come on up and have breakfast. We have news for you." He left.

  Ah, well, we could use the break. I took the tray to Dan, and we watched the ocean while we drank. Seagulls flew against the wind. The rain had become a light mist. The fire in the woodstove had gone out, and the coolness of the room finally energized us to scramble out of bed.

  We showered separately, as the stall was too small for two. I gloried in the luxury of the hot water, knowing that in 1918 Aunt Sophie had no such indoor benefit, just a roughed-in, outdoor affair that her brothers had rigged up.

  Dressed and out, we struggled through the wind the short way to the beach, "To work up an appetite," we told each other, as we hiked all the way to the Rock. I stared at it while I held my scarf tight to my ears.

  We didn't stay long before going back to the cabin, and then up to the Old Place where Sam had lived nearly the whole of his life.

  "Sorry," Dan said to Sam, as he opened the door. "We forgot the cups."

  Sam hurried us into the door, out of the damp wind. "Well, well. You must be Dan. I've heard of you. Put your coat here." He pointed to the pegs by the door that were put there by his father, David Smithers.

  I hurried to introduce them, "Dan, meet my cousin Sam, Sam, my, um, friend, Dan Dee."

  Sam tilted his head at Dan's name, as if maybe he'd not heard right, but only said, "Glad to meetcha, and don't worry about the cups." He turned back to me after shaking hands with Dan. "I see from the booking that you are leaving today. Short trip, huh?"

  "We wanted to take a walk on the beach, and I wanted you all to meet."

  Sam led us to the dining room where Dave and Connor were already at the table, Teri was by the stove in the kitchen. Connor leaped up to say hello to me and to look sharply at Dan. "So, you must be the new guy, huh?"

  "Connor!" Teri said.

  "What?" he asked, all innocence.

  "That would be me," Dan said, as serious as could be, "Where do I sit?"

  Dave laughed and the short spot of tension dissolved as Dan laughed, too. "I'm Dan Dee. Who would you be, the old guy?"

  Connor pulled back, and blushed.

  Teri had come from the kitchen to meet Dan, now she laughed. "Oh, good one."

  Connor sulked for a minute while I introduced Dan to Dave and Teri. When I kissed him on the top of his head, he ducked away.

  "This one is my precocious cousin, third cousin I believe. He has an interest in bugs, is raising cockroaches. A special kind of roach."

  The kid came out of his short funk, "Hissing Cockroaches, Annie. But that's a was, I don't have time for that now." He pushed out his chest, "I'm a football player now, made a touchdown last night. Gonna have to be working at that now, eating right, learning plays, like that."

  "You're a quarterback?" Dan said.

  Teri set a plate of pancakes on the table, "No, thank God, he's not even in the running for quarterback."

  "I'm an inside linebacker," Connor said.

  Dave was smiling, proud.

  "But he did make a good play last night," Teri continued. "Pulled out the winning play, a touchdown in the last minute, breaking a tie that had threatened to keep us later, shivering in the stadium. I have to admit, it was a thrill. I still don't like it though."

  "Aw, Mom. I'm all right." He grinned at her, a teenage boy knowing he had his mother's heart, and of course having no understanding of her fear. I felt the same way she did.

  "I agree with your mom, it's a dangerous sport, too much chance to damage that precious brain of yours, heaven knows you don't have much to play with."

  I'd no sooner gotten the words out of my mouth than Dan said, "Good show! Maybe we can come down and catch a game sometime. I played in high school and college, too."

  I guess I glared at him, 'cause he amended, "But they're right, it can be hard on your body."

  Connor's jealousy disappeared in a flash, as he served himself, barely paying attention to what he was doing. Clearly, to him Dan had potential. "What did you play? Who with?" Between bites he added, "You look all right. Must be pretty smart to get Cousin Annie to hang around with you."

  "High school. OSU. Inside linebacker, mostly. Like you," Dan said in answer to Connor's question. "I don't know about how smart I am, but I was lucky in football. Either way, life seems to be like that, you just gotta take your chances." Here he smiled at me. "Like asking out the pretty ones, even if you don't think you have a chance. Sometimes you get smacked down, sometimes you make a touchdown."

  Connor blushed again, which Dan ignored. "Seems I'm making a winning play. You never know, but hey! You gotta try, right?"

  Dave and Connor moved over into his camp, then and there.

  Teri sat down at the table. "Men!" she said, with a shake of her head.

  I was nodding in agreem
ent when Sam said, "Speaking of women," which made us listen. "Have you talked to Magda lately?"

  "Not for a couple of days, why?" I didn't tell him I'd spent most of the last few days either buying a bed or being in one, not talking to anybody but Dan.

  "I'm looking for a ride to Magda's."

  "We could take you today, but we're going to be on our way in just a couple hours."

  "I need more time than that. See, I've got to gather some things together, more than I'd take for a weekend." He had a funny smile on his face.

  "Sam! What are you telling me? What are you doing?"

  "See, that's what I'm trying to tell you. Magda and I wanted to tell you together. She's called you a couple times this week to set up a meeting but, the only person answering your phone is the machine. Now, I know why." This he said smugly as he grinned at the both of us.

  "Tell me what? She must have called while I was out and I never noticed the light." I felt like I'd been caught out. How embarrassing in front of Connor, and everybody.

  "I'm moving in with Magda. And she's moving in with me. We're taking over one of Sophie's Cabins and making it ours for when we live here. Half the time we'll live here, and half the time we'll live in Willamina."

  "What great news! When does this start?"

  "Already. Done. I'm here getting our place nailed down for winter, chimney needs cleaned, for one thing. Getting a guy in today to do them all so it's good you're leaving."

  "Which one?" I said.

  "Which one, what? Oh, which cabin for us? The one Mom and her brothers lived in. Not much of the old left but the basic construction. We modernized it years ago. Added on a section. It's the biggest cabin, and my favorite." He stood up, and took his plate to the kitchen. "You should stop by and see Magda on your way home."

  "As a matter of fact, that's just what we're doing," Dan said.

  "Yes," I said. "I'm done with the quilt and I'll leave it with Magda for the show. And I want to introduce Dan to her. I'm calling ahead this morning, so your news wouldn't have been a secret much longer."